Columbus: Cory McClenathan final summary

Cory McClenathan Takes Runner-up Finish at Pontiac Nationals Cory McClenathan's quest for his first victory in two years Sunday ended with a broken engine in the finals of the Pontiac Performance Nationals at National Trail Raceway. And it ...

Cory McClenathan Takes Runner-up Finish at Pontiac Nationals

Cory McClenathan's quest for his first victory in two years Sunday ended with a broken engine in the finals of the Pontiac Performance Nationals at National Trail Raceway. And it prevented a storybook finish for the special Carrier Boyz Racing JEG'S Mail Order/Prestone/FRAM Boost Top Fuel team.

McClenathan continued  to rebound from the violent crash that destroyed his
race car three weeks ago at  Bristol, Tenn. He qualified the one-off yellow
dragster fourth (4.523 seconds at  329.50 mph) and defeated Doug Herbert, Top
Fuel points leader Melanie Troxel and  David Grubnic en route to his title
showdown with Brandon  Bernstein.

The race was close until McClenathan's engine expired with a boom and he coasted across the finish line in 5.784 seconds at 147.47 mph as Bernstein won with a 4.531 at 329.58 mph.

"I think we would've  given them a close race if we'd been able to complete
the run," said the  disappointed veteran driver.  "It was good to race
Brandon in the final  because we are good friends.  And I will also say that it felt
good to be  back out there driving and racing all day again.  It felt good to
go  rounds.

"Something happened in the motor.  (Crew chief) Wes  Cerny was looking at it
to find out what caused it to come  apart."

Although the start of the race was delayed two hours by  rain, it didn't
hamper the Carrier Boyz team. McClenathan opened with a  4.555-second run at
328.94 mph in stopping Herbert's 5.036 at 197.86.  The  driver also known as Cory
Mac put his throttle-pedaling skills to use against  Troxel, getting to the
finish line first in a tire-smoking 5.019 at  302.48.  And then he drove into the
title round by defeating Grubnic with a  4.546 at 328.64 to a 4.50 at 312.42.

The new chassis, meanwhile,  continued to show promise. "We have 14 runs on
it now and we're ready for more,"  McClenathan said.

He was able to push his way into ninth place in NHRA POWERade Series standings with 386 points.

"Thanks again to  Jeg Coughlin Sr. and sons Jeg Jr., Troy, Mike and John and
all of their family,  friends and employees and the people at Honeywell and
FRAM who approved our  flying JEG'S colors this weekend. "

The team returns to action Friday at Topeka, Kan., in the O'Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park.